


Glitter and Gold

by KrisEleven



Category: Circle of Magic - Tamora Pierce, Emelan - Tamora Pierce, PIERCE Tamora - Works
Genre: Forum: Goldenlake, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-31
Updated: 2012-12-31
Packaged: 2017-11-23 01:42:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/616668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KrisEleven/pseuds/KrisEleven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niko didn't wander because he was lost.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Glitter and Gold

* * *

_All that is gold does not glitter,_

_Not all those who wander are lost_

* * *

Niko had always had the gift of looking past the masks people put up to hide their hearts. Even as a child, he had been able to see through deceptions; to know when a smile held ill intent, when desperation was hiding in someone's heart, or to pick out the liars' ticks. It had always gotten him into trouble, driven him deeper to his books and maps; endless hours spent curled over parchment thinking of all the places he would go, where no one would know to avoid his uncomfortably astute gaze.

When he was old enough, he did leave his home. As a young man, he had already fallen into the habit of saying little, or hiding his nose in a book to avoid seeing what no one else could see. Because you didn't just _tell_ people their past mistakes, their darkest secrets, their future sorrows. These things were hidden for a reason.

But he couldn't _not_ see them. So where did that leave him?

He wasn't the only one with a gift. Professors at university saw through his reserve and nurtured the intelligence there. Mages saw his gift as formidable, yes, but _extraordinary_ gift and tempted and prodded and tricked him into developing it. Colleagues challenged him. And friends met in temples and citadels and councils accepted him without reservations, no matter what he saw.

And his wandering became something else. Because he could very well have been lost, had no one looked to see the brightness that hid within.

In the depths of a plagued palace's cellars, in the angry scowl of a misunderstood girl, on the dark waves of a storm-tossed ocean, hidden behind street grime and tattooed hands, the greatest treasures waited, hidden.

Niko didn't wander because he was lost. He wandered because _they_ were, and it was his greatest gift to find them.


End file.
